Phillies starter Joe Blanton blew a 2-0 lead on Saturday getting pounded for 3 runs in the first inning, including a 2 run homer by Pittsburgh rightfielder Ryan Church.  Blanton gave up 5 hits while striking out 2 through his two inning stint.  Pirates starter Kevin Hart was erratic walking 4 and giving up 2 first inning Phillies runs.  Down by 3-2, the Phils scored a seventh inning run to negate Blanton’s pounding as the Phillies tied the Pirates at 3-3 through ten innings.

The AP recap for Yahoo sports notes:

Blanton wasn’t surprised the Pirates made a lot of contact. He’s working on pitch placement, starting the ball over the plate and working outward.

“If I’m trying to hit corners right out of the gate, I’m way over here and over there and I have a lot more adjustments to make,” Blanton said. “I want results in the season. I’d rather have a good ERA in the season than a good ERA in spring training.”

Hart was scheduled to pitch two innings, but left the game after tossing 38 pitches in the top of the first inning. The right-hander gave up two runs on one hit and four walks.

“I didn’t really command the ball, didn’t make the adjustments,” Hart said. “I got my pitch count up and was out of there.”

Hart’s control was erratic. Many of his pitches to left-handed sluggers Ryan Howard and Chase Utley sailed high and several inches outside the strike zone.

“Those guys put together some good at-bats, considering I wasn’t locating stuff,” Hart said. “They made me work and throw a lot of pitches. It’s good to face a lineup like that right away.”

Dewayne Wise led off the game with a triple to center and scored on a wild pitch. Hart then walked the bases loaded, but the Phillies got just one run out of it when Raul Ibanez grounded into a double play.

After giving up the 3 runs in the first inning, MLB.com’s Todd Zolecki reports that Blanton noted:

“I kind of changed my grip on my sinker a bit,” said Blanton, explaining his sudden improvement after a rocky start. “I wasn’t super comfortable with the grip I was using. It was going sideways, and I want it going down. I changed it and got it going down a little better.”

The change apparently paid off as Blanton retired 5 of the last 6 hitters he faced.

Danys Baez and 4 other relievers, 3 of them going two innings each and the other 2 going an inning apiece, held the Bucs to 2 hits while walking 3 and striking 8 the rest of the way.  Baez looked great replacing Blanton and only giving up a hit in two innings while striking out 2.

The Phils entertain the Tampa Bay Rays on Sunday at Clearwater.

MLB.com reports:

Left-hander J.A. Happ… makes his Grapefruit League debut. Right-hander  Phillippe Aumont, a key piece in the Cliff Lee trade, also will be on the mound.

In his spring training debut, Aumont was roughed up for 5 runs by Florida State U in relief of Happ.

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Lefthander Cole Hamels coughed up a leadoff homer to Toronto Blue Jays rightfielder Jose Bautista, another hit while walking 1 and striking out 2 in two innings of work on Friday.  Then the Phillies gave over the pitching duties to 4 camp invitees, 3 of whom gave up 13 runs in three innings as Phillies’ Hamels gave up a lead-off homer to begin a 14-9 Toronto rout. 

The 4th Phillies invitee, Ehren Wassermann threw two scoreless innings giving up 2 hits while walking 1 and striking out 4.  Lefthanded reliever  Antonio Bastardo tossed a clean ninth inning for the Phils while striking out 2.

Down 14-2 after five innings, the Phils struck back for 7 runs, 2 in the sixth, 3 in the seventh and two more in the ninth off of 4 Toronto relievers.  Prospect centerfielder Tyson Gillies went 2 for 2 including a homer, the first Phillies’ roundtripper of the spring, and 2 RBIs.

The AP recap for Yahoo sports reports:

In a B game at Clearwater, the Blue Jays beat the Phillies 3-2. Starting [Toronto] LHP Brad Mills, followed by RHP Chad Jenkins, pitched two shutout innings apiece, and David Cooper homered for Toronto. Phillies LHP Jamie Moyer threw three scoreless innings. 

The Phils face the Pittsburgh Pirates on Saturday as Joe Blanton makes his first exhibition start.

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The much-heralded debut of newly-acquired Phillies ace Roy Halladay lived up to its billing as the Doc threw 2 hitless innings while striking out 3.  The only Yankee to reach against Halladay in his two inning stint did so on a 1 out first inning error by new 3rd baseman Placido Polanco.  With only 4 of the Phillies starting lineup getting game time in the opener, the score was knotted at goose-eggs until the Phils scored first in the seventh.   The Yankees accosted young lefthanded reliever Sergio Escalona for 2 runs on 4 hits in the ninth, but the Phils broke through with 2 runs of their own in the bottom of the inning to win.  Halladay’s ace performance paid off in the exhibition opener as the Phillies nipped the Yankees in ninth by a 3-2 score.

As the 2010 exhibition games began, at least 2 and possibly 3 Phils starters showed well as lefthander J.A. Happ threw 35 pitches in allowing a hit and a walk in Wednesday’s exhibition warm-up 13-6 win over the Florida State college team.  Top Phils prospect Phillippe Aumont got roughed up for 5 runs in relief of Happ in the Florida State game.

Kyle Kendrick, in the running for the fifth starter role, replaced Halladay in the third inning and added two more scoreless innings allowing only 1 hit while striking out 1.  Relievers Jose Contreras and Andrew Carpenter both also pitched 2 scoreless innings each.  Contreras gave up 2 hits, but struck out 3 while Carpenter struck out 2 in his stint.   Phillies hurlers walked none while the Phils received 4 free passes by Yankee hurlers, 2 of them from starter and ace lefthander C.C. Sabathia who matched Halladay’s 2 scoreless innings but was not nearly as impressive.

After Halladay’s two inning stint, the AP recap for Yahoo sports notes that he went to the bullpen where he threw another dozen pitches and then finished up with a “a rigorous, 90-minute workout.”

After the Yanks reached Escalona to take a 2-1 lead in the ninth, the Phils came back with 2 runs to win the game making a winner out of Escalona who otherwise would have notched a blown save and a loss.

The AP recap notes:

Halladay is slated to start again Tuesday night when the Phillies travel to Lake Buena Vista to take on the Atlanta Braves.

Cole Hamels is scheduled to make his Grapefruit League debut Friday afternoon in Dunedin when the Phils take on the Toronto Blue Jays.  Jamie Moyer, who underwent three different offseason surgeries, is on tap to start in the “B” game in Clearwater Friday morning

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This past week has marked the annual ritual reporting of pitchers and catchers as the other players report and the teams prepare for the exhibition schedule and the season ahead.

For the Phillies, players such as highly-heralded starter Roy Halladay and new 3rd baseman Placido Polanco have arrived early, with Halladay seemingly anxious to show why he’s considered MLB’s best and Polanco working to re-acclimate himself to the 3rd base position after being primarily a 2nd baseman for a number of seasons.

Erstwhile closer Brad Lidge is also hard at work, having thrown off of a mound 2 days for the first time since off-season surgery.  He reportedly felt okay and felt no ill-effects.  He’s hoping to return much closer to 2008 form and would just as soon forget about his disastrous 2009.

What about starter Cole Hamels who sizzled in 2007 and 2008 winning an All Star berth and the 2008 World Series MVP award before fizzling out amidst fits of temper in 2009?  Will 2010 see him develop more dimensions than 2 pitches?  Maybe a cutter or a slider? Will he fulfill his potential and make the Phillies’ #1 and #2 starters the most fearsome one-two pitching punch in MLB, despite the trading away of Cliff Lee?

What about 1st baseman Ryan Howard, the $15 Million man?  Will he develop the hitting nack against lefthanders and severely cut down his
strikeouts from nearly 200 per season, becoming a complete player in the process??

Will rightfielder Jayson Werth build on his 2009 career season?   Will leftfielder Raul Ibanez knock down fences offensively again in 2010 as he did in the first half of 2009?  And will Jimmy Rollins regain form after an abysmal first half of 2009.

Hopefully, these and other questions will begin to be answered as spring training evolves into the exhibition schedule and the Phils work towards a 3-peat — to become the first NL team make the World Series in 3 consecutive seasons since the 1942-44 St. Louis Cardinals. 

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The Roy Halladay and cash for 3 prospects deal between the Phillies and the  Toronto Blue Jays, and the Cliff Lee for 3 prospects deal between the Phils and the Seattle Mariners (with the Mariners flipping a prospect each with the Oakland A’s) was actually two trades but historically, the huge 4 team deal will be seen as one and will rank high in the MLB all-time trade records.

A lot of ink has been spilled as to why the Phils foiled all of our dreams by trading lefthander Lee.  Our dreams of a Halladay, Lee top of the rotation all went for naught over an alleged ceiling on the Phils payroll budget and perceived need to replenish a Minor League system depleted by last season’s trade for Lee and the deal for Halladay.

Lee, whose short stint surely will go down in MLB annals having won his first 5 starts, completing 2 of them, going eight innings in a 3rd and seven innings each in the 2 others.  He struggled a bit in September, but then went undefeated in 5 post-season starts winning 4 of them, including a sensational 6 hit, 10 strikeout World Series opening win over the Yankees in the Bronx.  I can’t recall a pitcher in my 50-some years of baseball consciousness who accomplished what Lee accomplished in a mere 2 months of regular season and in the post-season.

It would have been a sight to behold; Halladay, Lee, a hopefully rejuvenated  Cole Hamels with Joe Blanton and lefthander J.A. Happ providing the balance of the starting rotation.   The prospect of Halladay joining Lee at the top may well have eased the pressure on the bullpen immensely allowing for flexibility regarding the set-up and closer spots.  Both Halladay and Lee are capable of complete games with every start.  Halladay’s got 49 CG in his 12 season career, 25 of them in the past 3 seasons alone.  Lee notched 10 CGs over his last 3 seasons, 13 for his career.

In looking at the respective careers of Halladay and Lee, Halladay looks on paper to be the superior pitcher.  But the Philies fates in 2010 ride to a large extent on whether Hamels recovers his 2008 magic, whether Happ can at least equal his rookie year performance, whether Blanton can continue to pitch effectively, whether Brad Lidge’s efforts in 2010 more closely resemble 2008 than 2009 and whether the Phils can add some further depth and efficiency to the bullpen.  If Hamels falters, the second-guessers will have a field-day ripping Amaro Jr. for trading away Cliff Lee.

We eagerly anticipate spring training and the 2010 season.  It’s great to be a Phillies fan and know that we’re not hoping futile hopes and pipe-dreams.  Checkout this Phillies Nation piece on Phillies fans’ perspective on the coming 2010 season — makes for enjoyable reading.

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As I continue housecleaning on the blog after the 7 week layoff, one cannot pass on the post-season awards and the absence of NL pennant- winning  Phillies from winning any of them.  One could say, however  that the Phils’ success in making a 2nd consecutive trip to the World Series was the result of the sum total of all of their parts.

However, I was expecting young lefthander J.A. Happ to have won NL Rookie of the Year honors which were ultimately won by Florida Marlins leftfielder  Chris Coghlan.

While Happ mainly sparkled finishing with a 12-4 record and 2.93 ERA with 3 complete games, including 2 big shut outs, he was pounded in a couple of outings down the stretch.  It seems obvious that Coghlan trumped Happ with a consistent .321 BA in his rookie season breaking .300 and driving to his ending .321 average through the September stretch getting 162 hits in 504 at bats over 128 games and going 6 for 13 with 3 doubles and 3 RBIs in 3 games in the NL East division series with the Phillies.

I was also expecting Charlie Manuel to win NL Manager of the Year having guided the Phils to 3 straight division Championships, 2 consecutive World Series and a World Championship in 2008.  But it was not to be as Colorado Rockies Manager Jim Tracy chapped the honors.  I’m not sure I understand the logic here, but one could probably say that Tracy rated the edge by hitting the ground running after his promotion in late May from bench coach to manager in wake of Clint Hurdle’s firing.  The Rockies went 74-42 with Tracy as skipper.  Tracy got 29 of 32 1st place votes while Charlie garnered no first place votes — figure that one out!

Two Phillies, shortstop Jimmy Rollins and centerfielder Shane Victorino, managed to nail down Gold Glove awards while a Silver Slugger Award went to 2nd baseman Chase Utley so that the team was not totally shut out.

For those who were hoping for an MVP award for 1st baseman Ryan Howard,  St. Louis Cardinals 1st baseman Albert Pujols notched the award for the 2nd straight season based on out-and-out merit.  Check this out:

• 2009       AB      Hits     HRs    RBIs     BB     K    BA
• Howard  616     172     45     141       75    186   .279
• Pujols     568     186     47     135     115     64   .327

Enough said??  Howard’s got to cut down on strikeouts — Big Time!

Finally, I can’t let this post go by without commenting on the AL MVP award going to Minnesota Twins catcher Joe Mauer.   Mauer caught in 138 games in 2009 hitting 28 HRs with 96 RBIs and amassing a .365 BA.  This after catching in 146 games in 2008, driving in 85 runs with a .328 BA.  Checking out his 6 season career, he’s caught in-excess of 130 games in 4 of his last 5 seasons and is in the midst of a career, both offensively and behind the plate, which recalls to memory Cincinnati’s “Big Red Machine” era Hall of Fame catcher Johnny Bench, although so far, Bench holds a decisive margin in HRs and RBIs.

Below are reports with more detail on the Post-Season Awards:

• Coghlan is NL Rookie of Year, Bailey Wins AL award, by Mike Fitzpatrick  (AP Sports Writer)
• Zack Greinke of Royals Wins AL Cy Young Award, by Ronald Blum  (AP Sports Writer)
• Tracy, Scioscia Win Manager of the Year awards, by Jay Cohen  (AP Sports Writer)
• Jim Tracy Wins NL Manager Of The Year, Inks Three-Year Extension
• Giants’ Lincecum Wins Second Consecutive Cy Young, by Jay Cohen  (AP Sports Writer)
• Mauer Near-Unanimous Pick as American League MVP, by Ronald Blum  (AP Sports Writer)
• Albert Pujols wins 2nd straight NL MVP award, by Ronald Blum  (AP Sports Writer)

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